Can you still use Google Play Music?

Google Play Music was a music and podcast streaming service and online music locker launched by Google in November 2011. It allowed users to upload up to 50,000 songs from their personal libraries, stream millions of songs from Google’s catalog, and purchase music from the Google Play store. At its peak, Google Play Music had over 40 million songs and was available in 63 countries (Wikipedia).
In May 2020, Google announced that Google Play Music would be shutting down later in the year as the company shifts its focus to YouTube Music, its new dedicated music streaming service. Google Play Music is scheduled to shut down completely in October 2020 for all users (The Verge).
The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the Google Play Music shutdown, outline the timeline and process for users to transfer libraries to YouTube Music, and summarize key differences between the services. It will also cover options for users after shutdown, including alternatives or steps to take if music is lost in the transition.
Can I Still Use Google Play Music?
Yes, Google Play Music is still available for now, but only until its official shutdown date. Google announced in May 2020 that Google Play Music would be discontinued at the end of 2020 [1]. The service was originally scheduled to shut down in October 2020, but this date was pushed back to December 2020 to allow more time for users to transfer libraries and data.
So Google Play Music remains active and usable by account holders for the time being. However, it is operating on borrowed time. Google plans to completely shut down Google Play Music on December 3, 2020 [2]. After this shutdown date, the service will no longer be accessible.
Until then, users can continue to stream from and upload music to their Google Play Music libraries. Playlists and collections will still be maintained. But Google has ceased adding new features or enhancements. The focus now is just on sustaining core functionality until the shutdown. So users should take advantage of the time left to export libraries or transition over to YouTube Music, Google’s intended replacement.
Why is Google Play Music Shutting Down?
Google Play Music is shutting down because it is being replaced by YouTube Music. In May 2020, Google announced that they would be consolidating their music streaming services into one platform under the YouTube brand. The main reason behind this move is to simplify and unify Google’s music strategy across their different products and services.
YouTube Music launched in 2015, and since then Google has been shifting resources and development efforts towards growing and improving that service over Google Play Music. As YouTube already has an enormous user base for video streaming, it makes sense for Google to leverage that by expanding YouTube into music as well. While Google Play Music has an established user base, the company sees more potential in scaling up YouTube Music to better compete against rivals like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
By phasing out Google Play Music, Google can focus their development, product, and engineering teams on one music platform. Resources will no longer be split across maintaining two separate apps and services. According to Google, this will allow them to provide more features, functionality and overall improvements to the YouTube Music user experience. So the retirement of Google Play Music signals Google’s intent to consolidate and simplify its music offerings under its more widely recognized YouTube brand.
Transferring Your Library to YouTube Music
Google provides a tool to help Google Play Music users transfer their libraries over to YouTube Music before the shutdown date. This transfer tool is available at music.youtube.com/transfer and allows you to move your Play Music library, including purchases, uploads, and playlists, to YouTube Music.
The transfer involves two key steps. First, you need to select the Google/YouTube account you want to transfer Play Music content to. Then you can choose exactly what content to move, including your entire library, specific playlists, likes and dislikes, and more. The transfer is initiated with the “Start transfer” button.
According to Google, this transfer tool will be available until late 2021, but it’s recommended to transfer sooner rather than later. The transfer process can take some time to fully complete depending on the size of your library. So initiating the transfer by the end of 2020 is advised to ensure you don’t lose access to any content when Google Play Music shuts down completely.
Differences Between the Services
There are some key differences between Google Play Music and YouTube Music in terms of features and library management. According to this Android Police article, YouTube Music lacks some important features that were available in Google Play Music:
- YouTube Music does not allow users to upload their own song files to the cloud like Google Play Music did.
- There is no podcast support in YouTube Music, while Google Play Music had a podcast section.
- YouTube Music does not have a music locker feature to store up to 50,000 songs for free like Google Play Music.
In terms of library management and playlists, this Android Authority article notes that YouTube Music does not have the same sophisticated tools. Playlists and libraries cannot be organized into folders, and there is no option to view all songs by an artist in one place.
Additionally, YouTube Music tries to generate playlists based on listening history rather than relying on users to manually curate playlists. This makes library management more difficult compared to Google Play Music.
Alternatives to YouTube Music
There are many popular music streaming services that can serve as alternatives to YouTube Music, each with their own pros and cons in comparison. Here are some top options:
Spotify – Spotify is one of the most widely used streaming services with over 70 million tracks and advanced discovery features like personalized recommendations and playlists. The free ad-supported tier is quite robust. Premium paid plans unlock higher quality audio, offline listening, and no ads. However, Spotify has limited support for uploading your own music library.
Apple Music – Apple Music has an expansive catalog of over 75 million songs and allows uploading up to 100,000 of your own tracks. It’s deeply integrated into Apple devices and also works great on Android. An individual plan includes lossless quality music. Downsides are limited discovery compared to Spotify and no free tier.
Amazon Music – Amazon Music comes bundled with a Prime membership and contains over 75 million tracks for ad-free streaming. The upgraded Amazon Music Unlimited tier unlocks additional features like high definition audio. Amazon has a wide device support. But its discovery features and playlists lag behind Spotify and Apple Music.
There are also free ad-supported options like Pandora and SoundCloud to consider. Overall, while no service has the exact same offering as YouTube Music, the top competitors like Spotify and Apple Music have large music catalogs, strong discovery, and appeal that make them viable alternatives worth evaluating.
Losing Purchased Music
One of the biggest issues with the shutdown of Google Play Music is that any music you purchased through the service will no longer be available to download or stream. Google has said they will provide tools for users to download their purchased music libraries before the shutdown, but many users have reported problems.
The Google Takeout tool allows you to export your purchased music, but many users have found incomplete libraries, missing albums or tracks, and issues with file formats. For example, some users have reported receiving their downloads as ZIP files rather than MP3 files. There have also been issues reported with Takeout failing to export your full purchase history.
Google has stated they are working to improve the Takeout experience before the shutdown. However, if you purchased music through Google Play Music, it’s strongly recommended you download your library through Takeout as soon as possible. Check your downloaded files and purchase history carefully. You may need to download multiple times to get your full library before it’s too late.
The shutdown means you will permanently lose access to any purchased music you don’t successfully download beforehand. So be proactive about saving your purchased music library while you still can. Don’t wait until the shutdown date.
Losing Playlists
One of the biggest concerns with the shutdown of Google Play Music is what will happen to playlists users have created over the years. Unfortunately, while Google will transfer over your library of songs, playlists will not automatically transfer to YouTube Music.
This leaves users with a couple options for preserving their cherished playlists:
Exporting Playlists: One option is to export your Google Play Music playlists before the shutdown. This can be done by going to music.youtube.com/transfer and clicking “Export.” You’ll then receive an email with a link to download a copy of your playlists. The downside is these exports are in JSON format, so you’ll have to find a way to convert them if you want to import them into another service.
Recreating Playlists: Alternatively, you could manually recreate your playlists in YouTube Music after transferring your library. This is time-consuming but ensures the playlists will be formatted correctly for YouTube Music. Some third-party apps like Soundiiz also offer tools to transfer playlists between services.
Overall, exporting playlists before the shutdown will preserve playlist titles and song order, but expect to do some work converting the files. Manually recreating gives you more control in YouTube Music, but will require time to rebuild each playlist.
Cancellation and Refunds
If you want to cancel your Google Play Music subscription, you can do so by going to your Google account settings and managing your subscriptions. Once canceled, your subscription will not auto-renew at the end of the current billing period.
You may be eligible for a prorated refund for any unused time remaining in the current billing period if you cancel your subscription. According to Google’s support page, “If you cancel within the first 48 hours of a monthly subscription and request a refund, we may refund the cost of the month in which you canceled”. To request a refund, you can contact Google Play support.
For YouTube Music Premium subscriptions, Google’s refund policy states that “If you have an active paid membership, sign in and request a refund within 14 days of your initial order date or your renewal date”. So if you cancel soon after renewal, you may be eligible for a refund on the unused portion.
In summary, to stop future charges, cancel your Google Play or YouTube Music subscription. Then contact support within 48 hours or 14 days of renewal/purchase to request a prorated refund on any unused subscription time.
Conclusion
Google Play Music is shutting down later in 2020, with YouTube Music becoming Google’s music streaming service. While you can continue using Google Play Music in the short term, you’ll eventually need to transfer your library and switch over to YouTube Music. The services have some key differences in features and functionality that are important to understand before deciding your best path forward.
Before Google Play Music shuts down completely, make sure to transfer any purchased music or playlists you want to keep. Download any purchased songs, albums, or playlists using Google Takeout so you have copies. Also transfer your library, playlists, and recommendations over to YouTube Music. This will make the transition smoother once the shutdown happens.
YouTube Music may not have all the same capabilities as Google Play Music did. Look into alternative services like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or others to see if they better suit your listening needs. Evaluate any costs for subscriptions or repurchasing music you may incur during this transition.